This stand-alone backstory edition reveals the romantic and tragic history of Maradee Flack, née Maradee Malloy. You’ll remember that Mrs. Flack played a sort of surrogate mother to Yuki O’Malley in Hahn’s 15-episode podcasted novel, Yuki O’Malley and the Bellefaire. In the novel, Maradee’s a good guy, but she’s been working for the bad guys for several decades. Ever wonder how a nice girl like her got mixed up with such sinister villains? Well, Hahn figured as much, so he lays it all out for you here.

Hahn’s matured as a writer and a podcaster. You’ll hear it in the use of special effects and music, editing and scene transitions, and you’ll hear it in his choice of words. He even wanders from his signature colorful villains here, offering instead, a more esoteric antagonist: haplessness. Don’t worry–you’ll still meet a really bad bad guy in Smiling Mac, the human embodiment of the perils of bad luck.

Bad Luck might as well be Eddie Flack’s middle name. Maradee’s the only good thing that happens to the poor guy, whose hapless tale careens through 1956 San Francisco’s jazz scene, gambling culture, and even its gay culture–mature subjects for a story aimed at the Harry Potter set.